\n\nMethod: Four hundred and thirty-five projects were analyzed to identify focus areas.

Fellows were asked to identify changes in their schools and communities resulting from their projects.\n\nResults: New education methods and curriculum change were common project focus areas. Regional differences were evident with a higher percentage of education methods projects by Fellows residing in India (52%), compared with South Africa (25%) and Brazil (24%). Fifty-six percent of projects were incorporated into the curriculum and/or incorporated as institutional policy. One-third to two-thirds of respondents noted improved teaching quality, collaboration, education research interest, assessment, student performance, and curriculum alignment with Selleckchem KU57788 community health needs.\n\nConclusion: National differences in project focus may offer insight into local conditions and needs. High rates of diffusion of projects and impact on faculty, students, and curriculum suggest that faculty development projects may MEK inhibitor cancer be a strategy for institutional change in resource limited environments.”
“Background: The use of personal computers (PCs) and the Internet to provide health care information and interventions has increased substantially over the past decade. Yet the effectiveness of such an approach is highly dependent upon whether the target population has both access and the skill set

required to use this technology. This is particularly relevant in the delivery of hearing health care because most people with hearing loss are over 50 years (average age for initial hearing aid fitting is 74 years). Although PC skill and Internet use by demographic factors have been examined previously, data do not currently exist that examine the effects of hearing difficulties on PC skill or Internet use in older

adults.\n\nObjective: To explore the effect that hearing difficulty has on PC skill and Internet use in an opportunistic sample of adults aged 50-74 years.\n\nMethods: Postal questionnaires about hearing difficulty, PC skill, and Internet use (n=3629) were distributed to adults aged 50-74 years through three OICR-9429 cell line family physician practices in Nottingham, United Kingdom. A subsample of 84 respondents completed a second detailed questionnaire on confidence in using a keyboard, mouse, and track pad. Summed scores were termed the “PC confidence index.” The PC confidence index was used to verify the PC skill categories in the postal questionnaire (ie, never used a computer, beginner, and competent).\n\nResults: The postal questionnaire response rate was 36.78% (1298/3529) and 95.15% (1235/1298) of these contained complete information. There was a significant between-category difference for PC skill by PC confidence index (P<.001), thus verifying the three-category PC skill scale.